Carsten Höller’s art takes you through the New Museum, literally

“Carsten Höller: Experience” is currently on display at the New Museum in New York. It’s the most comprehensive US exhibit of the German artist’s work. Born in Brussels in 1961, Höller was originally trained as a scientist and has a doctorate in agricultural science, specializing in the area of insects’ olfactory communication strategies. He didn’t begin making art until the late 80s. Höller’s work is often influenced by scientific research and experiments and he employees methods that alter the audience’s state of mind as well as their physicality.Each floor of this current exhibition explores a different general theme within Höller’s work. The fourth floor examines his pieces that are about movement, and this is where you’ll find the beginning of his slide installation. He’s done slides before, but this is the first time that one has actually gone through the inside of the building. The viewer, or “slider” is deposited on the second floor. This may be one of the few museum exhibits with a minimum height requirement (48″) and the New Museum’s website points out that visitors arriving after 4:30 may not get a ride due to increased attendance. The show runs through January 15.